“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. In Luke 6:35 Jesus asks us to extend generosity to people without expecting anything in return. So, my first question is what is our motive when we reach out to others?

Firstly, I would like to think my intention is because I see a need and feel I can enhance that person’s life by providing assistance in some way unconditionally. I believe a positive response is all we require from that person as affirmation. Pope Francis expresses it best, “Believe in the existence of the most noble and beautiful truths” and trust that God, through the Holy Spirit, is ushering everything toward the good, toward “Christ’s embrace.”

Secondly, is to be appreciative of what people do for you. How many times do we expect people to carry out certain tasks yet we judge their performance? It is something I need to monitor in my own life as I subconsciously evaluate anything that occurs in my own life from the food, I eat to an episode I watch television. Could I do better probably not, so what gives me the right to appraise others? Pope Francis sums it up perfectly, Enemy No. 1 is not out there somewhere, but inside oneself. “Don’t make room for bitter or dark thoughts.”

In Conclusion I once again draw on Pope Francis’ wisdom, “Hope instead means living in expectation of the concrete encounter with Jesus. And wisdom consists in being able to rejoice in the “little encounters of the life with Jesus.” In other words when we do meet others expectations, we to are having an encounter with Jesus. Surely, that is what gives us hope and erases all expectations.